With the postseason fast approaching, Mississippi State is trying to get one of its aces back up to speed in a hurry. Nate Dohm suffered against Georgia on April 7 and hadn’t pitched since.
That is, until Tuesday night in a game against North Alabama.
Dohn came in and threw two scoreless, hitless innings as he worked his way back into the mix for the Bulldogs.
“I thought his performance was great,” coach Chris Lemonis said. “Two innings, 22 pitches and we were just throwing him two tonight just (as) part of his rehab. We’ve gone two scrimmages the last two weeks, so he scrimmaged two weeks ago, faced an inning worth of guys. Last week he faced about two innings worth.”
On the season Dohm has made just six appearances, sidelined for a month due to the injury. He has a very respectable 1.37 ERA, with a 3-0 record as a starter.
If Nate Dohm can continue to progress in his rehab, he could be a valuable piece for the upcoming SEC Tournament and NCAA Regionals.
“The goal is to have him back for the postseason and working through everything,” Lemonis said. “We’re pretty close. I thought he was pretty good tonight.”
Dohm is coming off a 2023 campaign in which he made 17 appearances with two starts. He led the team with six wins, posting a 6-4 record on the year with a couple saves. He pitched 42.0 innings and owned a 4.07 ERA.
The talented pitcher also rang up 49 strikeouts vs. just 12 walks, so the command is pretty good.
As the Bulldogs bear down on the postseason, they’re hoping Nate Dohm is available but not necessarily counting on it. It’s still undecided if Mississippi State will try to gear him up enough to become a starter again.
“I don’t know about that. I mean he’s just going to build volume each time,” Lemonis said. “Does he get an outing next week? Does he get one the following? I just think he’s trying to get in there to help us out any way he can. I can’t script too much right now, it’s such a hard time of year to script.”
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